Wednesday, July 26, 2017

This coming Monday, July 31st is National Mutt Day, also known as National Mixed Breed Dog Day! This widely celebrated holiday was created in 2005 by Celebrity Pet & Family Lifestyle Expert and Animal Welfare Advocate, Colleen Paige. National Mutt Day is all about embracing, saving and celebrating mixed breed dogs. So, in honor of this wonderful pet holiday, the PetCot Company is offering 5 ways in which you can celebrate the mutts in your life!

1. Visit your local animal shelter and adopt a new friend
Dog lovers know every canine is one-of-a-kind, but mixed-breed dogs are truly unique thanks to their grab-bag of genes. Mutts come in every shape, size, scruff, and shade you can think of! Personality-wise, too, mixed-breed dogs can have any disposition under the sun, depending what family traits win out. Help save a life and see how a mutt can enhance your own!

2. Volunteer to walk a shelter dog

Did you know that some shelter dogs rarely leave their kennels? Shelter staffs just do not have the time to dedicate to walking each dog every day, and could really use the extra help that volunteering gives. Volunteering to walk shelter dogs also gives you an opportunity to help raise awareness, recruit people with time and compassion, and encourage animal lovers to visit their local shelter to learn about volunteer opportunities.

3. Donate food and other supplies needed to your local animal shelter

Many shelters rely solely on the good hearts and goodwill of those who donate. While there are some government assisted programs that provide some funding to animal shelters, the wait lists are long and it's not always guaranteed that they'll get the funding they need to properly maintain and care for the animals that arrive in their shelters daily. Often times, shelters will post supply need lists on their websites or social media pages, so subscribe to your local shelter's facebook or website page and keep an eye out for their next need list.

4. Make a donation in the memory of a loved dog who has crossed the Rainbow Bridge

There comes a time in every pet owner's life that they must say goodbye to their furry friend. It's never easy, and another pet just cannot replace that void. But what may help ease some of the heartache and give you peaceful closure is to make a donation to your local shelter in memory of your beloved dog who has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. In doing so, you're honoring the life of your pet and passing along the unconditional love they received from you to those that are not as fortunate to have a loving furever home and family.

5. Spread the word to raise awareness

You can purchase clothing, canvas totes and collectible mugs to show your support for mutts. While you're spending time with your mutt or volunteering your time at your local shelter snap a few pictures and post them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #NationalMuttDay. Or you can even do some research to locate dog walk events taking place near you and register, then invite your friends to join you!

The biggest percentage of dogs abandoned and euthanized is due to the constant over-breeding and public desire of designer dogs and purebred puppies that are sold to pet stores supplied by puppy mills that often produce ill and horribly neglected animals. This special day was created to raise awareness of the plight of mixed breed dogs in shelters around the nation, as approximately 80% of dogs in shelters are mixed breeds. The mission behind National Mutt Day is to educate the public about the overwhelming number of mixed breed dogs that desperately await new homes and to celebrate the amazing characteristics that the mix of breeds creates in each individual dog.

Celebrate National Mutt Day by spending time with the mutts in your life or by volunteering at your local shelter. Your efforts to educate and bring awareness to this cause will be appreciated and won't go unnoticed. If you'd like to donate supplies to your local shelter, we've got great products that shelters would love to have - such as a raised dog bed or waterproof crate pads. Visit our website today to get your donation items ordered!

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

From the first day you bring your pup home, you'll train them and teach them right from wrong. With so many important things to teach them, how are you supposed to know where to start? Many people wonder when the right time to start training their puppy is, and honestly, the answer is now. Start setting your puppy up for success today, and you'll be able to reinforce those habits for the rest of their life. Here are a few tips from trainers that will help you figure out what your puppy needs to learn, and how to teach it to them.

Start with Routines
It's important to start training your puppy on the routines that they'll be keeping in the coming weeks. Teach them where their food and water dishes are, and keep them in the same places, and feed them at the same times each day. Teach them where they'll be going to the bathroom, and always take them to the same place for continuity. Most importantly, continually train them about their bedtime. Keep their PetCot bed in the same place so they know where bedtime happens, and then be sure to reinforce what time they wake up and what time they go to sleep. These routines will be just as valuable for you as it is for them.

Teach Words
The next step is to start reinforcing words in their vocabulary. "No," means stop what you're doing right now. "Good," reinforces that what they're doing is exemplary. These two words are generally introduced around 2-3 months old, and should be used when necessary. There are many other words you will want to add to their vocabulary like sit, stay, down, off, come, don't touch, drop it, go lie down, etc. These words should only be taught after "no" and "good" have been learned well.

Treat Training
While using treats can be a great incentive for your pup, it's not the most effective way to reinforce good behavior, or stop the bad. Treat training, in essence, is based solely off your pup wanting to eat or not. Suppose he goes running out the door after a squirrel, and even though you're tempting him with a treat, he wants to chase the squirrel more than eat a treat. Not only does that reinforce bad habits of not listening to you, but you're showing that if he doesn't want a treat he doesn't have to listen. It would be much more efficient to implement a training based on respect over treats.

Keep in mind that training with treats is not a bad thing, but it shouldn't be your sole method of 'bribing' your pet to obey you. Treats are initially used to help reinforce good behavior, and direct the pet to what you're wanting them to do, but as your training goes on, you should be weaning them off the treats and guiding them to do what you've asked solely based on the command and authority.

Respect Training
If your dog hears your words, understands them, and still chooses not to obey, this could be a sign that they don't respect you. It's important to establish respect in the relationship, not because you HAVE to be in charge, but because you can protect your pet better when they obey. If they are running out into the road, but don't listen to you when you say "come," they are in danger of running into oncoming traffic.

PetCot Beds Help You Train Your Pup
There are many important commands you will establish with your new furry friend, and our beds can help you to reinforce some of those commands. Many trainers use our PetCots to instruct dogs of all ages in the "place" command. Our pet beds aren't just used for training, though, our beds are kept in households all over the country to give your pet a great place to sleep, relax, and stay put when need be. You can order yours today on our website, www.PetCot.com.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

We at PetCot Company adore all things canine. And why wouldn't we? Dogs offer companionship and unconditional love. They are funny, adorable, and charismatic. Not only that, but they offer physical, emotional, and social benefits to our lives each and every day. If you love dogs as much as we do, you'll enjoy learning these fun facts we're sharing with you this week that are all about dogs!

11 Fun Facts About Dogs

1. A typical dog has the same brain aptitude level as a toddler. Dogs can comprehend about 250 words and count up to 5.

2. Eighty percent of dog owners shower their pets with gifts (such as a premium raised dog bed) on special occasions like birthdays and holidays. On holidays, over half of these pets are included in the signature of family cards.

3. In the United States, about 1 million dog owners have named their pets the primary beneficiary in their wills.

4. The typical body temperature for a dog is between 101 and 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to 98.6 for humans.

5. Dogs actually do sweat, but only through the pads on their paws.

6. In addition to sweating through their paw pads, dogs pant to cool themselves off. A panting dog can take 300-400 breaths (compared to his regular 30-40) with very little effort.

7. Dogs and humans have the same type of slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) and during this REM stage dogs can dream. The twitching and paw movements that occur during their sleep are signs that your pet is dreaming.

8. 45% of dogs sleep in their owner’s bed (we’re pretty sure a large percentage also hog the blankets!).

9. Dogs curl up in a ball when they sleep due to an age-old instinct to keep themselves warm and protect their abdomen and vital organs from predators.

10. Dogs are not colorblind. They are able to detect color in their vision, just not as vividly as humans.

11. More dogs are called Max, Jake, Maggie or Molly than any other pet names.

We hope you enjoyed learning these 11 fun facts about dogs. We know we sure did! If you have any fun facts about dogs that you know of that we didn't list above, we encourage you to share them with us in the comments.

Keep Your Pet Comfy

A happy pet makes a happy owner, and a comfortable pet is a happy pet. We also strongly encourage showing your dogs how much you love and appreciate them by getting them a premium raised dog bed to keep them cool and comfortable this summer. You can visit our website to view all of the different sizes and colors we have available, and before you know it, it will be shipped to your door!

Thursday, July 6, 2017

The PetCot company has been providing quality raised dog beds to families and their furry friends since 2001. We have created a bed that not only looks nice in your home, but is also comfortable, hygienic, and better for your pet than the other beds on the market. Of course, when you're ready to purchase your elevated pet bed, there are a few important decisions you'll have to make, and one of the most important is choosing a bed size for your pet.

Depending on the size of your pet, you'll want to choose a bed that is large enough for them to spread out, but not so large that it's too big for your space. Here are a few ways you can pick out the right bed for your dog.

The PetCot raised dog bed provides optimal comfort and support for your dog while not providing a breeding ground for bacteria and odor found in the popular clumpy pillow pet beds. Do you have a small pup or even a cat? The small raised pet bed is perfect for these breeds:

The medium PetCot raised dog bed is perfect for medium-sized breeds and it provides optimal comfort and support for your dog. No need to worry about the breeding ground for bacteria and odor found in the traditional clumpy pillow dog beds. Here are a few breeds that would fit well on a medium PetCot bed.

The PetCot dog bed provides optimal comfort and support for your dog while not providing a breeding ground for bacteria and odor found in clumpy pillow beds. Do you have one of these breeds? They would LOVE a large PetCot bed!

The Extra Large PetCot bed is perfect for your large, lovable hound. A large dog needs plenty of support, and a bed that will keep their joints in good condition - that's exactly what you'll find in a PetCot bed. Do you have a large breed dog? This bed would be perfect!

Keeping Your Pet Comfy

A happy pet makes a happy owner, and a comfortable pet is a happy pet. Are you ready to see why purchasing a PetCot bed will be the last premium pet bed you have to purchase? You can visit our website to view all of the different sizes and colors we have available, and before you know it, it will be shipped to your door!